Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso has dismissed reports that she was asked to leave the Paris Olympic's athletes' village for allegedly creating an "inappropriate" environment. The 20-year-old stated that the claims against her were untrue. "I just wanted to clarify that I was never kicked out or expelled from anywhere, please stop spreading false information. I don't want to make any statement but I'm not going to let lies affect me either," she said in a statement on Monday.
Ms Alonso reportedly left the athletes' village to visit Disneyland. Paraguayan Olympic Committee boss Larissa Schaerer said that her presence was "creating an inappropriate atmosphere within the Team."
As per reports, Luana Alonso missed out on qualification for the women's 100m butterfly semi-final by just 0.24 seconds at the Paris Olympics 2024. After failing to qualify for the event, she announced her retirement. Following her lacklustre show, Ms Alonso said, "It was my last race. I am retiring from swimming."
Earlier, during a live stream on social media ahead of the Paris Olympics, she triggered a controversy having allegedly said, "I want to represent the United States more".
Born on September 19, 2004, Luana Alonso is the national record holder for Paraguay in the 100m butterfly event. A student at the Southern Methodist University in the US Dallas, Alonso shot to fame having represented her country at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
She competed in the last Olympics at the age of 17. Despite the fanfare, Ms Alonso could not qualify for the semifinals back then having registered a 28th-place finish in Tokyo.
The Paraguayan swimmer also competed in various other significant tournaments such as the Youth Olympic Games, the South American Games and the World Championships.
